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Acquitted man insults dead boy's relatives

Isabel Hayes

A Sydney man who shot dead a teenager in front of his family during an "outrageous" and violent home invasion has been jailed for at least 21 and a half years.

The family of 17-year-old Devril Leuthwaite wept in relief in the Supreme Court on Friday as they learned one of their son's killers, Gavin Anthony Bell, would remain in jail until at least 2032.

But there were bitter scenes outside court after a man acquitted of the same murder - Guy Michael Carroll - traded insults with the dead teenager's relatives.

Bell, 27, 23-year-old Carroll and a third man, Gary Markham, 29, were all charged with murder related to the invasion of the Leuthwaites' Werrington home in western Sydney in August 2010.

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Devril Leuthwaite was shot dead while his brother, Robert Leuthwaite Junior, was shot but survived.

Their father, Robert Leuthwaite Senior, was also wounded during the invasion, which the court heard was drugs-related.

Bell, who shot Devril Leuthwaite with a sawn-off rifle, pleaded guilty to murder, while Markham, who waited outside the home, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Markham was jailed for at least three years last year after agreeing to testify against Carroll, who stood trial this year but was found not guilty by a jury.

Sentencing Bell to a maximum of 27 years and 10 months for murder, wounding Robert Leuthwaite Junior with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and assaulting Robert Leuthwaite Senior, Justice Peter Hall said he had murdered a young man "on the threshold of his adult life".

The home invasion was "an outrageous piece of conduct arising out of a planned invasion" conducted solely for "personal gain in terms of money and drugs", the judge said.

"Such criminal self-interest has no place in society and deserves a severe punishment," Justice Hall said.

The judge accepted Bell did not set out with the intent to murder Devril, but shot him after he encountered "strong resistance" from the teenager.

He noted Bell "used a loaded firearm against (Devril) rather than extricate himself from the situation he and his co-offender had created".

Bell, who sat with his head bowed throughout the sentence, made no reaction to the sentence.

Carroll, who was in court for the sentencing, shook his head and said "He can appeal".

Outside court, he and Devril Leuthwaite's relatives screamed "f***ing c***" at each other.

Clutching a photo of her dead son, a tearful Dawn Leuthwaite said the courts had "done their duty".

"It's never going to bring my son back, but I'm happy with the courts," she said.